6 ms·

Mercedes Benz and Matternet unveil vans that launch delivery drones

48 points by endswapper 10y ago

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
They mention hard-to-reach location delivery. But it may be simply more efficient to deliver in a 'star' geometry with the van stationary and the drones dropping packages throughout a neighborhood. Save time; save on traffic and parking (park under a freeway, deliver to the business district).
bsenftner 10y ago
They are being too timid in their thinking and designs. All they need is the driverless "engine cab" and then a transformer-like packing of drones to form the rest of the vehicle. It arrives in the neighborhood of delivery and then all the drones take off, deliver, they return, and reassemble into the driverless delivery truck.
- pjc50 10y ago
  I blame them for wanting to achieve a working product rather than a really cool concept.
  - usrusr 10y ago
    That would be a truck with a docked cargo bike.
    - pjc50 10y ago
      Your cargo bike can fly over walls?
      - usrusr 10y ago
        It can go around walls. I did not notice the concept to specifically mention prison yard drops.
    - Fricken 10y ago
      Well- a little six wheeled autonomous bucket. http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12830298/delivery-bot-van-mercedes-starship-technologies http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12830298/delivery-bot-van-m...
BlickSilly 10y ago
I believe oneway drones are next so that the van doesn't have to stop moving. Then upgrade to a truck on a highway - just keep launching as the truck is maintaining 55-65 mph. Unit lands in your yard. When you get home, Remove your item, fold up the power unit, recycle the cardboard/plastic components and stick the reusable portion of the unit in your mailbox. Unit is self addressed and postage included to go back to the nearest facility.
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Doesn't that turn the delivery problem into an exactly mirrored pickup problem? Getting the drones back would be about as much work as getting the package to you.
  - BlickSilly 10y ago
    updated my comment for clarity. Recycle some of the components, and put the power/brain/battery unit in your mailbox.
    - vidarh 10y ago
      If I had to get to a mailbox to return something, I would refuse to order from that company.
      - gm-conspiracy 10y ago
        There is this company called Netflix...
        jon-wood 10y ago
        They're spinning down the side of their business that requires using the postal service because it's less popular, and less efficient than the side that doesn't.
        10y ago
chillingeffect 10y ago
How could we design/modify our homes to receive these packages? Santa Claus-chute for things to slide down? Helicopter landing pad in the front yard? How can we sort the packages/letters into their individual receptacles? This could save US mail carriers a lot of effort.
- neodypsis 10y ago
  Interesting. Maybe a new type of mail box in the roof for houses (as you suggest), and some kind of Amazon Locker with a landing pad on top for the apartment complexes. Combining drones with a better mail box would allow the asynchronous delivery of packages.
god_bless_texas 10y ago
What a weird combination. I understood Matternet's strategy while using drones for the good of humanity delivering HIV testing in faraway places. Partnering with Mercedes Benz to deliver "things to places" seems like it is competing with Amazon. Does Mercedes have or want a large African footprint? Do non-Amazon stores have enough of a desire to have speedy drone delivery of packages that this makes sense from a business standpoint? Is this news the product of a large MB investment that needs attention and proof of traction?
- endswapper 10y ago
  It isn't that weird. Mercedes and Matternet both have an interest in the efficient, cost-effective delivery of things. Matternet, for now, is concerned with the "last mile," (https://mttr.net/company https://mttr.net/company), the aerial logistics part, and Mercedes is concerned with every other mile. Amazon is a prospective client, they have the things people want.
scoot 10y ago
Very surprised at their choice of a quadcopter which has four very obvious single points of failure. A hexacopter, or better still an octo with split flight controllers and power sources has some chance of recovering from a powertrain failure - an essential criteria for a multi-rotor designed to fly in or over populated areas, or indeed anywhere where the cost of the loss of the vehicle or payload is prohibitive. (None of which of course solves the problem of how you safely land and secure the delivery at the target site, but it's table stakes.) This is a hobby-drone cleverly positioned to senior execs looking for the new hotness without understanding the fundamental requirements for a practical solution.

48 points by endswapper 10y ago

They mention hard-to-reach location delivery. But it may be simply more efficient to deliver in a 'star' geometry with the van stationary and the drones dropping packages throughout a neighborhood. Save time; save on traffic and parking (park under a freeway, deliver to the business district).

bsenftner 10y ago

They are being too timid in their thinking and designs. All they need is the driverless "engine cab" and then a transformer-like packing of drones to form the rest of the vehicle. It arrives in the neighborhood of delivery and then all the drones take off, deliver, they return, and reassemble into the driverless delivery truck.

pjc50 10y ago
I blame them for wanting to achieve a working product rather than a really cool concept.
- usrusr 10y ago
  That would be a truck with a docked cargo bike.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    Your cargo bike can fly over walls?
    - usrusr 10y ago
      It can go around walls. I did not notice the concept to specifically mention prison yard drops.
  - Fricken 10y ago
    Well- a little six wheeled autonomous bucket. http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12830298/delivery-bot-van-mercedes-starship-technologies http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12830298/delivery-bot-van-m...

BlickSilly 10y ago

I believe oneway drones are next so that the van doesn't have to stop moving. Then upgrade to a truck on a highway - just keep launching as the truck is maintaining 55-65 mph. Unit lands in your yard. When you get home, Remove your item, fold up the power unit, recycle the cardboard/plastic components and stick the reusable portion of the unit in your mailbox. Unit is self addressed and postage included to go back to the nearest facility.

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
Doesn't that turn the delivery problem into an exactly mirrored pickup problem? Getting the drones back would be about as much work as getting the package to you.
- BlickSilly 10y ago
  updated my comment for clarity. Recycle some of the components, and put the power/brain/battery unit in your mailbox.
  - vidarh 10y ago
    If I had to get to a mailbox to return something, I would refuse to order from that company.
    - gm-conspiracy 10y ago
      There is this company called Netflix...
      - jon-wood 10y ago
        They're spinning down the side of their business that requires using the postal service because it's less popular, and less efficient than the side that doesn't.
        10y ago

chillingeffect 10y ago

How could we design/modify our homes to receive these packages? Santa Claus-chute for things to slide down? Helicopter landing pad in the front yard? How can we sort the packages/letters into their individual receptacles? This could save US mail carriers a lot of effort.

neodypsis 10y ago
Interesting. Maybe a new type of mail box in the roof for houses (as you suggest), and some kind of Amazon Locker with a landing pad on top for the apartment complexes. Combining drones with a better mail box would allow the asynchronous delivery of packages.

god_bless_texas 10y ago

What a weird combination. I understood Matternet's strategy while using drones for the good of humanity delivering HIV testing in faraway places. Partnering with Mercedes Benz to deliver "things to places" seems like it is competing with Amazon. Does Mercedes have or want a large African footprint? Do non-Amazon stores have enough of a desire to have speedy drone delivery of packages that this makes sense from a business standpoint? Is this news the product of a large MB investment that needs attention and proof of traction?

endswapper 10y ago
It isn't that weird. Mercedes and Matternet both have an interest in the efficient, cost-effective delivery of things. Matternet, for now, is concerned with the "last mile," (https://mttr.net/company https://mttr.net/company), the aerial logistics part, and Mercedes is concerned with every other mile. Amazon is a prospective client, they have the things people want.

scoot 10y ago

Very surprised at their choice of a quadcopter which has four very obvious single points of failure. A hexacopter, or better still an octo with split flight controllers and power sources has some chance of recovering from a powertrain failure - an essential criteria for a multi-rotor designed to fly in or over populated areas, or indeed anywhere where the cost of the loss of the vehicle or payload is prohibitive. (None of which of course solves the problem of how you safely land and secure the delivery at the target site, but it's table stakes.) This is a hobby-drone cleverly positioned to senior execs looking for the new hotness without understanding the fundamental requirements for a practical solution.